Re: Alton Towers | SW7 | Unknown (Gestlauer?) World's 1st
Thanks for the video CoasterCruiser!
Regarding Gerstlaurer hate... I don't hate them. The Eurofighter in particular is what they've become so well known for and it's a great ride because it offers a lot for very little. The problem I have when I ride them is that they seem absolutely incapable of getting a car to follow track off to the side. All the while they are going up and down, they are fantastic. Speed's first drop and hill is super awesome, but then it goes up into that turn and the car shudders around. Then I rode Rage at Adventure Island, which is certainly the least painful to date of the ones I've ridden, but it's also really boring. Without the height, the beyond vertical drop doesn't even feel like it happens. Then I rode Saw, and Saw I have the ...er, privilege, of having access to ride often and I know it varies from "okay" to "unbearable", sometimes within the space of hours. At the base of it's first drop, it's got a horrible shunt and then it continues to rumble around the track as if it's wheels are octagonal and as if there is no room for manoeuvre between the cars. And the last one I've been on is Mystery Mine, which has a horrendous first half and then compensates with a great finali, but it's still got the shuddering and incapable of turning corners smoothly problem. On top fo all this, they have horrible pacing. They pick up speed really quickly, but then loose momentum as fast as it was gained, causing them to hang awkwardly in inversions and speed uncomfortably through any dips in the course. On Mystery mine, the "hanging" is used to great effect, but it's not the case on Saw.
All the models I've been on have the same train design though. We know SW7 has different trains. I honestly believe the trains are where the problem lies. If the pacing issues, the shuddering and the incapability to deviate from a straight path is it's not resolved on SW7, it will be an awful ride. Because if Dollywood couldn't hide it, no one can.
All of this is pretty irrelevant though. What matters is what the majority of guests think, and I bet few complain about Saw's onslaught. I think most mistake it as being part of the theme, to be honest. I guess arguably, it is.